An early morning report from Reuters on Thursday indicated that Ukraine’s parliament has agreed to try and work on a joint bill on constitutional amendments.
The parties in Ukraine’s deadlocked parliament agreed on Thursday to try to draft a joint bill on constitutional amendments that could be put to a vote as early as next week, the speaker said.Opposition leaders, backed by protesters in the streets, want a return to a constitution enacted in 2004 that would move substantial powers over the government from the president to parliament – a proposal rejected by President Viktor Yanukovich and his supporters, who have had a majority in the legislature.Speaker Volodymyr Rybak, from Yanukovich’s Party of the Regions, said leaders of the parliamentary groups would meet in committee with himself and representatives of the president with the aim of producing a bill within the next few days.
Constitutional reforms have been a key demand of the protesters in Ukraine. But as Reuters notes, whether or not a consensus can be obtained is unclear.
Meanwhile, Yanukovich returned Monday from a brief sick leave. He is expected to name a new prime minister, after Mykola Azarov resigned last week in an effort to appease the protesters and opposition.
(Featured image: AP video, 2/3/2014)
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